Re: Removing that hard drive....

If brute force doesn't solve your problem then you aren't using enough of it and....

1f u c4n r34d th1s u r34lly n33d t0 g37 l41d

Rule 1. To go forward, you must first backup.

I have an HP Officejet 7130 multi function Printer/Scanner/Copier/Fax machine.

The HP software that comes with it is not really adequate for my needs and I find it extremely un-userfriendly and also difficult to use. Forums tell me that this problem is not unique to HP users, who seem to like their machines for Copying and Printing, despite getting lots of hassle with the HP Scanning software. Neither can one scan and create/save to PDF with it.

I need some software that will allow me to scan mixed documents (text and picture containing) and then save them as PDF Files. I don't mind paying a smallish amount of say, 20 to 30 or so, for something that is deemed to be really worth that bit more than just 'Free'.

Does anyone know of any suitable software or can anyone recommend anything from personal experience?

Thanks

Exec,

I got frustrated with the software that came with my HP 2575.

An upload has produced a version that is better. The version that came with the machine would not scan under Vista - the new one does.

In the meantime I installed this. I needed to create some PDF's and this seemed to do the trick from what I remember.

It did what I wanted at the time and I don't think I paid for it.

TP

I have an HP OfficeJet 7600. I am delighted with it.

It scans direct to PDF over Ethernet to my various computers. It came with drivers for XP and Vista -- not that I needed the Vista ones, of course ;-)

Scanning, including photo to JPEG scanning, is very good.

Claims to be cheaper by far than a laser for colour printing.

Recommended.

Cost was about 195 from Staples.

TP

Thanks for the suggestion. PDF Creator is an excellent program for converting other files, such as Word files into PDF files. I had forgotten I had it. Anyhow, in the meantime I had upgraded to IE8 and my version of PDF Creator was apparently incompatible with IE8 so I had to upgrade it to the latest version.

Unfortunately, it does not appear to be much use for scanning. I would have to scan a document with other software to immediately save it as a PDF file. I could scan a Word document with what I have already and then convert it to a PDF file with PDF Creator but I need to be able to scan Mixed Documents - documents with mixed text and pictures (even a logo headed letter) and to do that it is definitely best to scan and immediately save as a PDF File.

Anyhow, Thank You TP, for your suggestion.

MM

Fancy a straight swap? Your OfficeJet 7600 for my superior 7130? You could always throw in a pair of your better shotguns to make up the difference, I suppose. Say, Purdeys or whatever. Oh, and a box of cartridges too. ;-)

Well, I was looking at a very nice Holloway and Naughton shotgun (Birmingham gunmakers) on Saturday. I gave it back when I noticed it was a mere 67,000. Nice gun -- as you might expect.

Doc,

I've no idea about PDF Creator, but Adobe Acrobat works in the same way as a printer does and installs a print driver. In your case you would need to print from the scanner to a PDF file rather than to a conventional printer.

I guess there are other PDF creation programs that work in the same way. Have you searched Google?

Otherwise, I might have something of interest in my little green shed.

Update: Managed to get the hard disk out of the faulty PC. Fitted this drive temporarily on a spare machine and am running Spinrite on it. As of now, Spinrite has found no errors on it! So, it looks the problem probably is with the IDE cable or the motherboard or perhaps the powersupply itself as suggested by MM. Next, I'm going to try a new IDE cable on the old PC. If that sorts the problem out, good. If not, it's time for a new desktop. Thanks to all that helped.

Klal

I'm glad that you have it sorted, but whatever you do make sure that you copy all of the disk to backup before you go any further with it.

Thanks Optimist. I will absolutely take a complete backup before proceeding any further.

Hi
a couple of weeks ago I posted some stuf about installing a TV card with which I could receive terrestrial stations but not freeview. I challenged Virgin about the feed through their cable and received a load of drivel in return. Needless to say I told them this and strangley have not had a reply.

Now to my latest adventure. I'm trying to use same card on my linux system but have come up against a brick wall. If there is someone who can explain how to configure stuff in linux in the SIMPLEST language I will post some details. I've had some stuff from the card manufacture and searched the web extensively but can't find anything I can make sense of.

The words Linux and Simplest are a contradiction in terms.

Assuming that you can get a Linux driver for the card, you will then have to carry on searching the web for clues as to how to install it.

If you have the Linux driver for the card, try searching by the name of the driver or if you can identify it, by the name of the main chi on the card. It may also be worth searching the software manager for your distro to see if there are any utilities that asist with the identification of additional hardware.

Best of luck, please post your progress.

opti
thanks for your reply. Glad you feel the same about linux.

The system appears to have recognised the card correctly but there isn't a tuner attached so it can't find any channels.

Kworld (card manufacturers) sent me a "howto" which starts with:
if your kernel version is 2.6.23 or at last, you can load the module :
# rmmod saa7134
# modprobe saa7134 card=114 oss=1
# modprobe saa7134-alsa

I don't really understand how to load a module (even if I could find one and I have tried) but the middle one seems to be installed anyway. Unfortunately the system won't let me look into it as "you are not the owner". Don't know why this is as I installed the system and thought I was giving myself full admin rights. Can't find anywhere (in Yast for example) to change this.

There are then a load of card/system settings in the Howto but I can't find anything in my system which resembles them. On various forums people seem to find this info in file ispci but that doesn't exist in my file system.

edit: just went back to it and now there is a fatal error and the card isn't accepted by the system. I think my relationship with linux is fast coming to an end:)

Have you tried this?

http://linuxtv.org/

http://linuxtv.org/pipermail/linux-dvb/

http://hftom.free.fr/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=329&sid=70fdd6fefee89e7b86b1caca55f006f4

You need to be logged in as root to make the changes, which is not recommended. The alternative is to use Super User mode which has the same effect - type SU at a comand prompt, you will be asked for the root password, and type exit to finish the SU mode. Single commands can normally be excecuted in SU by preceeding the command with 'sudo '

thanks gents, that stuff looks useful. I'll get back to it when my brain's had a rest

Opti
morning
thought Im ready for another crack. Typed su in terminal, got asked for password but the keyboard is now disabled!! cant not type nuffink.
Ive got a feeling that this points the the whole problem Im having. Its possible that Ive been doing the right things but because I dont have the correct privileges theyre not taking effect.
So I need to find out how to get owner (root) priviliges first.

Username and Password Management

For some time now I have been using a small program called Password Keychain.

Once opened with a Master Password (Letters and Numbers and case sensitive), it lists all your web sites downwards in columns by Description (Nickname) and then by Site Info (URL) and Date Accessed (last time you went there)

I find it extremely convenient to use because, having selected a target site from the column, it can be brought up on the browser with a Double Click. After putting the cursor into the appropriate place on the web site, then a 'CTRL + ALT + U' pops in the Username concerned and then, moving the cursor to the password box, a 'CTRL + ALT + P' pops in the Password.

If you select 'Edit' from the program's Tool bar, you gain access to a useful 'Notes' section. This is where you can put stuff like 'What was your second Pet's name?' and such things as special dates.

I have been very pleased with this program and have greatly enjoyed using it. It also has a Password Generator and BackUp Data and Restore Data facilities. Thus you can backup the data onto portable memory cards or a secondary partition or hard drive.

But I have a problem with the program! I cannot backup or restore the Notes data. It just seems to miss this stuff out of the backup and restore procedures.

Hopefully, one of you might also be using this great little program. Online support for it finished ages ago and my problem may be that it just does not work as well on WinXP as it did on W98. Whatever.

Can anyone help? Or are you absolutely chuffed with a semi-robotic program you use? And if so, would you recommend it to me as an alternative?

I use Roboform for filling in Forms with Name and Address and Credit Card stuff but I think Roboform just it isn't as good as Password Keychain for Usernames and Passwords. If I could solve how to backup and restore PK's Notes section, then I'd be thrilled.

iiwarm

I have never come across the keyboard freezing when using a terminal window so you could have another problem. Does the keyboard still work if you switch to a different application?

You should be able to log in as root when you boot the machine, but this is not secure as everything you do will have root privileges.

Depending on which distro you are using, there may be a menu shortcut to a root terminal.

I find that another good way to access Linux is to install WinSCP (for file management) and Putty (for a remote) terminal on my Windows machine and use these programs to log onto the Linux system over my network. You have to enable SSH remote control on your Linux machine for this.

Another useful program, install NX Server on your Linux machine and NX Client on your Windows machine. Setup can be interesting and the client uses significant resources, but it will bring your Linux desktop to the Windows box.